Family Video Case to Resume in April

City manager outraged by store's name

AUBURN, N.Y. – The court battle pitting Family Video against the city of Auburn will resume in
April when a judge will hear the case. The city is seeking to have the sale of
X-rated videos in the store barred by court order.

Family Video, part of the third
largest chain of video stores in the country, is being sued by the city for
selling adult videos within 500 feet of a residential neighborhood. Officials
in Auburn
contend that this is a violation of a 1998 city ordinance that specifies where
sexually oriented businesses may operate.

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Douglas Klang, director of real estate for Family Video, has
said he doesn't believe the store fits the city code's definition of a sexually
oriented business. Klang noted that Family Video has a separate, age-restricted
area for adult videos and that this section only makes up a small percentage of
the store's operation, and as such does not meet the city's definition of a
sexually oriented business.

Arguments on the case were shifted
to April on the first day of court, in order to allow the store to have its
lawyer appear in court and to allow city judge Michael McKeon to recuse
himself.

McKeon and one of the city's
attorneys were allegedly involved in writing the city's ordinance, or planning
board hearings for approval of the store.

Auburn's city
manager Mark Palesh has been quoted as being outraged by Family Video's name
alone. "The [store name] is a trap for families. My family's never going
to go there again," he told the Syracuse
Post-Standard.